Eco-friendly utopian paradise or time-share scheme in disguise? It's a bold experiment either way. Tribewanted is, in its own words, "a unique global project that is bringing 5,000 people together online to decide what happens during the development of a sustainable community on a Fijian island."

Membership costs between £120 and £360 for one, two or three years, which includes a one week, two week or three week stay on the presently undeveloped island of Vorovoro and a say in things. Flights are not included, but offsetting your carbon footprint is strongly encouraged. A certain percentage of the money goes to helping the local community.

So far nearly a thousand people from 28 countries have signed up. They will, it is said, have input into how the island is developed, what type of buildings will be constructed, how waste is managed and what sort of entertainment is on offer. A pioneering expeditionary force of 13 members have just paid their first visit to Vorovoro. The maximum number of people allowed on the island at any one time is 100. Those who wanted to were able to contribute their labour to the initial construction, although the bulk of the work is being done by members of a local tribe - a real tribe - which numbers about 350.

It's not everybody's idea of a holiday. Democracy may be many things, but it is not relaxing. Likewise a week's break normally includes, among other amenities, some form of shelter. The intrepid "first footers" who have just returned from the inaugural week on Vorovoro made do with an open-air sleeping pavilion and three composting toilets. "We sold the idea on the fact that it was 200 acres of uninhabited island," says Tribewanted co-founder Mark James, "and therefore it has drawn people who are up for adventure."

It is definitely not, he says, a set for some new reality TV series, although the BBC are, as it happens, planning to make a documentary about the Tribe's first year. Nor does the involvement of telly presenter and Castaway survivor Ben Fogle - member 924 - have any ulterior purpose. "He was one of the inspirations behind the project," says James, "and when he found that out he contacted us and said that he loves the idea."

For all its promotional effrontery, Tribewanted is difficult to criticise. The idealism which permeates the project may be self-serving - voting Yes for a beach bar hardly counts as democracy in action - but the notion of involving one's customers in the business model is radical enough. It also gives the Tribe an interesting social dimension. "On the website people are building relationships," says James. "They're listening to each other."

One might argue that the impact on the island would be even more limited if they just left it alone, but it's likely if Mark James and his fellow entrepreneurs hadn't gone to Vorovoro, someone else would have. The tribal chief - a real tribal chief, Tui Mali - who owns most of the island had already been approached by a huge hotel group. Any scheme that seeks to minimise environmental damage should be applauded, although the trend towards what one might call exculpatory tourism is itself worrying. Despoilment takes many forms - cultural, economic and environmental - which cannot be offset by planting trees.

We will have to wait and see what happens: the island site is leased for three years, after which Tui Mali, his tribe and the Tribewanted team - and its membership - will together have to decide what comes next. James is prepared, if necessary, to put the island back to how it was and walk away. "It would be hard work," he says, "but it's their island."

Ben Keene, co-founder, 26

'The chief of the island was approached by tour operators but he chose to work with us, two 25-year-olds with no financial backing. There are inevitably comparisons between us and utopian or distopian visions like Lost, The Beach and Lord of the Flies, but this is real - they didn't have an online business behind them and an agreement with the local community.'

Warren Wright, 44, Tribe chief

'I've been voted chief for two months but I intend to stay on the island for the full three years. I was a total capitalist. It was take take take. Then I got to 40 and realised it was time to give something back. I like the idea of creating a community - I believe we can look at ways of living in a different way. For me this is an opportunity to find happiness.'

Kim Lindsay-Black, 46

'When I first read about it I was sceptical, but it didn't cost much so I decided to sign up. I'd always enjoyed desert island stories and Tribe seemed like a bit of a fantasy. I used to travel a lot but I got put off because everything is so commercial. I wanted to go early in the project as I was worried it would turn into more of a resort. I don't think it will. But I do hope it doesn't get ruined.'